10 Ways Batman & Robin Changed Batman Movie History

7. It Killed The Era Of Camp

As previously alluded, it was the huge success of Batman Forever that really shaped the way Warner Bros framed their plan for the future of Batman movies after 1995. The neon-tinged super spectacle was exactly to brief, with a fun spirit that would appeal to a family audience and sell toys starkly in contrast to Tim Burton's take on the character. It was also enough to kill that planned Catwoman spin-off that would have followed more closely to Burton's vision, but was deemed too contradictory to the new spirit of the Batman movies.

Unfortunately, the decision was made with Batman & Robin to dial up the campy sense of fun even more. The villains wouldn't have felt out of place on the 1960s Batman TV show, Gotham was increasingly turned into a living fun fair exhibit and the script was just mind-numbingly silly.

You would have thought that Warner Bros would have taken heed from the fact that camp had almost killed Batman comics for good back at the tail end of the 1960s, but they mercifully realised their error with Batman & Robin and ended the second era of camp. In its place, they sought to instead make Batman Beyond and Year One, which would have been a stark removal from the cartoonish tone set by Schumacher.